Research

New Contemporary Art Curator for Museum

05/17/2013

In September Dominic Molon, chief curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM), will join the team at the RISD Museum as its new Richard Brown Baker Curator of Contemporary Art. He will follow in the footsteps of longtime curator Judith Tannenbaum, who came to RISD in 2000 as the first curator to hold the endowed position. She recently semi-retired but will continue to work with the Museum through 2014 as an adjunct curator.

Molon, who has also worked as a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Chicago, will assume responsibility for the interpretation, development and care of the RISD Museum’s significant collection of contemporary art – including paintings, sculpture, and new media – with an emphasis on exhibitions, publications, community engagement and acquisitions.

“I am thrilled to welcome Dominic Molon as the newest member of the Museum’s exceptional curatorial team,” noted Museum Direct John W. Smith in announcing the appointment on May 15. “Over the course of his career, Dominic has earned a highly respected and admired reputation for his rigorous, wide-ranging curatorial point of view. I’m confident that his commitment to contemporary artists, collaboration, scholarship and community engagement will build upon the Museum's strengths and help move us forward in new and dynamic ways.”

Molon earned his master’s degree in art history and criticism from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and his bachelor’s degree in the history of art and architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His recent exhibitions at CAM include Leslie Hewitt: Sudden Glare of the Sun and Christodoulos Panayiotou: One Thousand and One Days. He is also a co-curator of two upcoming exhibitions: Place Is the Space, an exhibition of site-specific architectural projects, and Martin Boyce, the first North American solo exhibition of the Turner Prize-winning British artist.

Prior to joining CAM, Molon served as curator and acting curatorial department head at MCA, where he worked in various curatorial and research positions since 2001. In addition to his work at CAM, he regularly contributes to art publications, lectures widely and serves on international advisory committees.

“I am incredibly excited and honored to [accept this position],” says Molon. “It offers a rare and unparalleled opportunity to present the art of today within a dynamic art historical context that stretches back to the ancients and impacts tomorrow’s practice through the Museum’s relationship with one of the most distinguished art schools in the world.”